Michelle Dockery
Age: 43
Birthplace: Rush Green, London, England
Michelle Suzanne Dockery (born 15 December 1981) is an English actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV drama series Downton Abbey (2010-2015), for which she has been nominated for three consecutive Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. She made her professional stage debut in His Dark Materials in 2004. For her role as Eliza Doolittle in the 2007 London revival of Pygmalion, she was nominated for the Evening Standard Award. For her role in the 2009 play Burnt by the Sun, she earned an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her other notable stage credits include Pillars of the Community (2005) and Hamlet (2010). She has also appeared in the films Hanna (2011), Anna Karenina (2012) and Non-Stop (2014).
Early life
Dockery was born at Rush Green Hospital in Rush Green, London, the daughter of Lorraine (née Witton) and Michael Francis Dockery, a van driver and surveyor.
She has two older sisters, Louise and Joanne. She was educated first at the Chadwell Heath Foundation School in Chadwell Heath, Essex. She then trained at the Finch Stage School.
After her A Levels, she enrolled at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where she was awarded the Gold Medal for Drama at her graduation in 2004.
Career
Stage
Dockery was a member of the National Youth Theatre. She made her professional debut in His Dark Materials at the Royal National Theatre in 2004. In 2006, she was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for her performance as Dina Dorf in Pillars of the Community at the National Theatre.
Dockery appeared in Burnt by the Sun at the National Theatre for which she received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She won second prize at the Ian Charleson Awards for her performance as Eliza Doolittle in Peter Hall's production of Pygmalion at the Theatre Royal, Bath, which toured the UK and transferred to The Old Vic in 2008, and for the same production was nominated Best Newcomer at the Evening Standard Awards 2008. In 2010, she played Ophelia in Hamlet at the Crucible Theatre alongside John Simm.
Film and television
Dockery made her television debut as Betty in Fingersmith in 2005. In 2006, she starred as Susan Sto Helit in a two-part adaptation of Terry Pratchett's novel Hogfather. In 2008, Dockery played Kathryn in Channel 4's The Red Riding Trilogy and played the guest lead of tormented rape victim Gemma Morrison in BBC's Waking the Dead. In 2009, she appeared in the two-part Cranford Christmas special for the BBC, and starred as the lead character in a modernised BBC adaptation of The Turn of the Screw.
Dockery came to public prominence in 2010 when she played Lady Mary Crawley in Julian Fellowes' series Downton Abbey, the first season of which was screened on ITV between September and November 2010. She was nominated for a Southbank Award in January for Best Breakthrough Performance in a TV drama. A second series of Downton Abbey was shown in 2011, followed by a special Christmas Day episode. The show's third series premiered on 16 September 2012 in the UK, and on 6 January 2013 in the US. A fourth series then began filming in February 2013, and premiered the same year in September. A fifth series was commissioned, and began filming in February 2014. The sixth and final series (including a Christmas special) was filmed during 2015, and broadcast in the autumn of that year. For her role in the series, she has received three Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe nomination.
Her first big screen role was as False Marissa in the 2011 film Hanna, opposite Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett. In 2012, she appeared as Princess Myagkaya in the film adaptation of Anna Karenina and starred with Charlotte Rampling in a two-part dramatisation of William Boyd's spy thriller Restless on BBC One. In January 2014, she appeared opposite Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore in the thriller film Non-Stop.
Since 2011, her character Lady Mary Crawley's eyebrows have had their own parody Twitter account. In 2013, Lady Mary Crawley was even listed in the Forbes Fictional 15, composed of the wealthiest characters from novels, movies, television and games.
In 2014, she was made Fellow of the Guildhall School in recognition of her achievements in television.
In 2014, after an exhaustive research conducted by Debrett's, Dockery was listed in The Sunday Times Britain's 500 Most Influential People, which is a compilation of the most significant individuals in the UK who have demonstrated outstanding qualities of influence, achievement and inspiration.
In 2015, Lady Mary Crawley became the number one most sought-after British voice in America.
Music
Dockery is a jazz singer. She sang at the 50th Anniversary of Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London and has occasionally sung with Sadie and the Hotheads, a band formed by Elizabeth McGovern, who plays her mother in Downton Abbey. Dockery cites her musical influences as Peggy Lee, Melody Gardot and Billie Holiday in her more melancholy moods.
Charity work
On World Humanitarian Day 2014, Oxfam announced Dockery as its first ever Humanitarian Ambassador. Dockery is also a patron of Changing Faces and supports a host of other charities. In 2014, along with 8 other A-list stars, Dockery was featured in an exclusive short film for Stand Up to Cancer, spreading the urgent message that we need to act now to accelerate new cancer treatments to UK patients and save more lives.
Personal life
Dockery's Downtown Abbey co-star Allen Leech introduced her to one of his best friends, Irishman John Dineen in May 2013. They were first photographed in public together in August 2013 in Venice, Italy. There had been several public appearances of the couple, including Wimbledon, the US Open, around New York City and the Cartier Queen's Cup in 2014. Dockery herself did not speak of Dineen publicly, other than a magazine interview in 2014: "I have a wonderful man in my life from Ireland."
It was reported that the couple were engaged on Valentine's Day 2015. She wore her engagement ring two days later, during the first script table read of series six of Downton Abbey on 14 February. Someone on set announced the engagement ring to the media. Despite the engagement, the couple was not publicly photographed together in 2015.
In December 2015, Dockery suddenly left the U.S. media tour promoting the final season of Downton Abbey, and was photographed by paparazzi arriving at a London airport on 10 December. On Sunday, 13 December, Dineen died from a rare cancer, which had been diagnosed earlier the same year, and for which he had sought experimental treatment in Germany. He passed away in Marymount Hospice, Curraheen, County Cork, two days before Dockery's 34th birthday and four days prior to what would have been his own 35th birthday, with Dockery and his family at his bedside. A private funeral was arranged. She sang "The Folks on the Hill" and told the mourners that Dineen had been "my friend, my hero, my king, my everything."
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Spoiler | Goth Girl | Short film |
2010 | Shades of Beige | Jodie | Short film |
2011 | Hanna | False Marissa | |
2012 | Out of Time | Christine | Short film |
2012 | Anna Karenina | Princess Myagkaya | |
2012 | A Poem Is.. | Narrator | Voice |
2012 | Angelic Voices: The Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral | Narrator | Documentary |
2014 | Non-Stop | Nancy Hoffman | |
2014 | Tough Justice | Connie Tough | Short film |
2015 | Self/less | Claire Hale | |
2015 | Many Beautiful Things | Voice of Lilias Trotter | Documentary |
2015 | District Zero: What's Hidden Inside the Smartphone of a Refugee | Narrator | Documentary |
2016 | The Sense of an Ending | Susie Webster | Filming |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Fingersmith | Betty | TV series |
2006 | Hogfather | Susan / Death of Rats | Television film |
2007 | Consent | Television film | |
2007 | Dalziel and Pascoe | Aimee Hobbs | 2 episodes |
2008 | Heartbeat | Sue Padgett | Episode: "Take Three Girls" |
2008 | Poppy Shakespeare | Dawn | Television film |
2009 | Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 | Kathryn Taylor | Television film |
2009 | Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1983 | Kathryn Taylor | Television film |
2009 | The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler | Ewa Rozenfeld | Television film |
2009 | The Turn of the Screw | Ann | Television film |
2009 | Waking the Dead | Gemma Morrison | 2 episodes |
2009 | Return to Cranford | Erminia Whyte | 2 episodes |
2010-2015 | Downton Abbey | Lady Mary Crawley | All 6 seasons |
2012 | Restless | Ruth Gilmartin | Miniseries |
2012 | American Dad! | Margaret Watkins | Voice 1 episode |
2012 | Henry IV, Parts I and II | Lady Percy | Television film |
2013 | Family Guy | British Woman | Voice 1 episode |
2015 | Japan: Earth's Enchanted Islands | Narrator | BBC2 Documentary Series |
2016 | Good Behavior | Letty Dobesh | All 10 episodes |
Stage
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2004 | His Dark Materials | Jessie | National Theatre |
2005 | Henry IV, Parts I & II | Carrier | National Theatre |
2005 | The UN Inspector | Female activist | National Theatre |
2005 | Pillars of the Community | Dina | National Theatre |
2007 | Dying for It | Kleopatra | Almeida Theatre |
2007 | Pygmalion | Eliza Doolittle | UK tour |
2008 | Uncle Vanya | Yelena | UK tour |
2008 | Pygmalion | Eliza Doolittle | Old Vic Theatre |
2009 | Burnt by the Sun | Maroussia | National Theatre |
2010 | Hamlet | Ophelia | Crucible Theatre, Sheffield |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | Ian Charleson Awards | Best Actress | Pillars of Community | Nominated |
2007 | Ian Charleson Awards | Best Actress | Pygmalion | 2nd prize |
2008 | Evening Standard Award | Outstanding Newcomer | Pygmalion | Nominated |
2010 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Burnt by the Sun | Nominated |
2011 | Monte-Carlo Television Festival | Outstanding Actress Drama Series | Downton Abbey | Nominated |
2012 | Monte-Carlo Television Festival | Outstanding Actress Drama Series | Downton Abbey | Nominated |
Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Drama Actress | Downton Abbey | Nominated | |
Glamour Awards | Editor's Special Award | N/A | Won | |
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series | Downton Abbey | Nominated | |
Satellite Awards | Satellite Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama | Downton Abbey | Nominated | |
2013 | Golden Globe Award | Best Actress - Television Series Drama | Downton Abbey | Nominated |
Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series | Downton Abbey | Nominated | |
Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Downton Abbey | Won | |
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series | Downton Abbey | Nominated | |
Huading Awards | Best Global Actress | Downton Abbey | Won | |
Online Film and Television Association Awards | Best Actress in a Drama Series | Downton Abbey | Nominated | |
2014 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series | Downton Abbey | Nominated |
Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Downton Abbey | Won | |
2015 | Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards | Television Icon Award | N/A | Won |
2015 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Downton Abbey | Won |